Wii U midnight launch to lift New York gloom

Amidst all of the doom and gloom in New York at the moment following the events of Hurricane Sandy, we have some positive gaming news to bring you in light of the official Nintendo Wii U launch, which is going to take place in the Big Apple after some previous delays.

We told you about a week ago that the Wii U queue had started very early, but had to be postponed temporarily as Sandy took its course. Thankfully, the queue is now back in active status and as far as we’re aware, Isaiah ‘Triforce’ Johnson is still in number one position and on schedule to buy the very first Wii U in the world from Nintendo’s Reggie Fils Aime, who will personally sell him the console himself.

Nintendo has just sent out word that the official launch event will start at 6PM on Saturday November 17, lasting a full six hours where eager shoppers will queue up to be able to pick up a shiny new console when the clock strikes midnight. Aside from Reggie being there in attendance personally, we also hear that various ‘premium’ items will be up for grabs for other attendees as well, so it definitely is worth heading down to the Nintendo World at Rockefeller Plaza and take in the atmosphere for yourself.

Another pleasing thing to note is that profits from Mario goodies that will be available for purchase at the event will go directly towards the American Red Cross, who will obviously use the extra funds to help out victims of Hurricane Sandy. While these launch items would perhaps go for free normally, it’s nice to see Nintendo offer up a way for queuing fans to contribute towards helping those affected, while still getting some exclusive items to take home.

The question is though, do you live near the New York Nintendo World store to participate in this event, or have you already lined up a different midnight launch event to go to? Shoppers in the UK and other parts of Europe will have to wait slightly longer to get their Wii U system, as the console doesn’t go on sale there until November 30 – bit of a shame really.